Category Archives: Philippines 2010

On the last full day of our Philippines Fam Tour, we were roused early to take a 15-minute outrigger boat (above) ride from the sandy beach in front of our resort. Our destination was the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The park features a limestone karst mountain landscape, with the world’s second-longest underground navigable river, that winds through a cave before flowing out into the South China Sea. This natural wonder of cathedral caves and river has been carved and honed by nature for millions of years. The cavern stretches for miles of unknown distance, decorated with a staggering array of colorful stalactites, stalagmites and multi-faceted rock to awe visitors.

From the white sandy beach, a thick canopy of trees carpets the mountainous hillside as it rises from the coast line. We first took a brief stroll through the forest behind the park headquarters, where we saw Long-tailed Macaques and Monitor Lizards, along with Tabon Scrub Fowl, and a gorgeous male Palawan Peacock-Pheasant (above).

From the beach, we saw dark morph Eastern Reef-Heron. Palawan Hornbill’s (above), Blue-naped Parrot and Blue-headed Racquet-tail were seen feeding in the early morning light. Looking at the cave’s entrance, we could see a Stork-billed Kingfisher perched and Glossy and Palawan Swifts exiting in large numbers.

We were eager to enter the cavern, to see it’s famed wonders for ourselves. Our group split-up to fill two small “Banca” boats, which took us about 400 yards into the semi-darkness. Our guide illuminated the brilliant rock formations with his torch, and pointed out their features – this required some imagination to find stalactites named for vegetable shapes! Many swifts were flying over our heads, as well as numbers of 8 different bat species.

On our way back to the resort, we detoured briefly to another section of the park, known as “Central Park,” where White-bellied Shama, Lovely Sunbird (above), and Yellow-throated Leafbird showed exceptionally well.

After lunch, we took a wonderfully relaxing boat ride along the Puyoy-Puyoy River, meandering through the open mangroves.

When we stepped off the boats, we found the local staff busy chopping Mangrove branches to retrieve squirming wood worms inside. Considered a local delicacy, they are washed and prepared in vinegar with onion. Edna (above) took great pride in showing us how to eat a 10-incher – two of them, actually, since we weren’t ready with our cameras for her first quick gulp!

An afternoon walk through a countryside trail at Lion’s Cave produced a quick, flyover Philippine Cuckoo-Dove, Ashy-headed Babblers, Striped Tit-Babbler, and Grey-cheeked Bulbul. A wetland near the base of the limestone cliffs held Intermediate Egrets, while a Crested Serpent-Eagle perched atop a cliff tree.

Our final morning of birding was along the Cabayugan Road as we headed back to the city to catch our flight to Manila. We enjoyed a flurry of four wonderful species in succession. First we spotted a beautiful Thick-billed Green-Pigeon, with a maroon back and two-toned yellow and red bill, perched in a tree. This was followed by an uncommon Ruddy Kingfisher that we heard calling and then saw flying over the road to land close by in full view. A Drongo Cuckoo, a medium sized blue-black cuckoo with a slightly forked tail and slender decurved bill, flitted about overhead. Then three white birds were spotted perched atop bare branches in the distance. Could they be Pied Imperial-Pigeons? Egrets? In the scope they are none other than one of the rarest endemics, the Philippine Cockatoo! Their reddish-salmon undertail coverts with a yellow wash was exposed when preening. In flight they look remarkably un-psittacidae-like, with a very broad wing base, rounded wingtips and slow deep wing-beats reminiscent of Cattle Egrets. What a way to finish this marvelous trip!

From Palawan we flew back to the capitol city of Manila for our last evening together before flying home to the United States. Thank you to Vernie and the ‘girls’ for organizing this special trip, and to Nicky and Adrian for ably guiding us through the impressive wonders of the Philippine Islands.

We spent the last days of our Philippine Fam Tour on the long, narrow island province of Palawan. This is probably the best-preserved major island group in the Philippines, well-known for it’s stunning seascapes, rainforests, caves and coral reefs. It may have looked familiar to those who saw James Bond’s Tomorrow Never Dies, which was… Continue Reading

On the sixth day of our Philippine Fam Tour, we arrived at Mactan Island, just east of Cebu, staying several nights at the lovely Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort. There, we feasted on expansive buffet meals, served by very gracious staff. Striking Zebra Doves (above) were common around the grounds, while Pink-necked Green-Pigeons came into the… Continue Reading

We spent an afternoon and morning at Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape, a popular destination for birders. This 9,000 hectare national park is characterized by rolling hills with remnant natural forest on steep limestone terrain, surrounded by plantations, deforested area and grassland. In the opening glade, we found Bi-colored, Red-keeled (above), Pygmy and Orange-breasted Flowerpeckers feeding… Continue Reading

Bohol was the second island we visited, during our fam tour of the Philippines. We arrived via a short plane ride from Manila, eager to explore the tropical landscape. One of the main attractions was the enticingly-named Chocolate Hills (above), an unusual geological feature formed ages ago by the interactions of rainwater, erosion and coral… Continue Reading

Subic Bay was among the most interesting and historic places we visited in the Philippines. Located 100km northwest of Manila Bay, Subic Bay (below) served first as a strategic port for the Spanish, then as an important base for American military operations in the Pacific. In June 1991, the Mount Pinatubo volcano erupted 20 miles away with… Continue Reading

We spent 3 full days of our Philipines fam tour exploring Luzon, the largest island, and home to the capitol city of Manila. Most of the country’s mountainous islands are covered in tropical rainforest and volcanic in origin. Driving in and out of the traffic-congested metropolitan area provided ample opportunity for us to ogle the… Continue Reading

I just completed a 10-day tour of the Philippines as a guest of the country’s tourism board. Eight bird tour leaders and two media persons from across the United States came together for this “fam trip” to explore and familiarize ourselves with this intriguing island nation. We were graciously hosted by native-born birding and travel… Continue Reading